Hello to all interested,
First post here but I am involved quite heavily with helping veterans (myself included) acquire their disability benefits and I'd like to put it out there to see if the Steemit community may also find a value in the topic of military veterans benefits.
As a former US Marine from the Gulf War Operations, Desert Storm and Desert Stay, I am currently involved in the daunting & arduous process of applying for disability benefits, and more than likely, Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E). I expect being in the military you'd agree with me some hard work and focus will be necessary to accomplish this task due to your military experience but I personally was shocked & dismayed at the level of misinformation, ineptitude, general apathy, and concealment and avoidance of investigations that this dysfunctional system supports.
But in the interim I wanted to gauge how much value that a topic of such broad nature might add to the Steemit community. I do this in hopes of gaining further insight and direction for future posts and topics of this nature. I am still learning about Steemit and how to publish here using the most efficient methods available so I can mesh this topic seamlessly into Steemit's style and culture. To do this I would request your constructive criticism and feedback to help this little section of the community. Please contribute and share your experiences here if you find this initiative something that you would like to build for your own purposes at first and eventually to help those in the future by paving the way.
You may be asking yourself why follow this guy's advice? I want to be clear here, ... that I am not an expert on the topic but I am well read, focused on my goal, and can document things very well. More importantly I have found a great online support group of veterans/friends that are going through the same process. I intend to post their excellent articles,links to their sites, links to many sites used to provide documentation backing up your claims, their social media blogs, Private FB groups etc. However I need to be careful not to violate the terms of the Steemit community's moderators so I plan to err on the side of caution until I understand the fundamental mechanics of Steemit.
My main source of information is coming from a former veteran that successfully navigated this system to gain over $350,000.00 in VR&E to gain a law degree (including both his undergraduate & masters degree, and living expenses) that specializes in representing veterans for this process, and which included the money he needed (and the premium tools) to start his own legal business fighting for our rights. Google Benjamin Krause to find out more. So far I have found Ben to be thorough, legit, forthcoming and sincere in his quest to help us. (hopefully Steemit will allow me to link him here)
He has helped me so much already that this is my way of paying it forward. (and how cool to get paid with a little crypto-currency along the way!)
This is the whole gist of my post... however read further if you like.
By sharing this process I want to spread the word as much as possible about the difficulties in obtaining the benefits that so many of us U.S. veterans have earned, and of which, are in desperate need.
Historically the VA has treated it's veterans with disapproval & downright disdain when requesting their rightfully earned Disability Benefits, by way of mass publishing (and in extreme cases outright marketing) vague information regarding the specific methods one should use to apply with success. In addition the massive amount of bureaucracy involved in an undertaking of this nature is staggering, especially when a majority of the counselors (not all but many) categorically deny requests for respectable education & training to help veterans successfully return to the workforce.
Our veterans have paid the enormous price & sacrifice of years of service and they are willing and able to work hard to continue the investment in our country; However they must be well trained and educated to successfully transform from military life into a usable and relevant career in the civilian world and ultimately add rich, and rewarding value to the american economy.
So my goal (however lofty) is to help a few Vets along the way as I traverse this obstacle if I can, with good intentions and the best possible information I can gather with the hope of spreading a little hope and prosperity amongst our brothers-in-arms.
P.S. I have a lot on my plate for sure so If I fall short in any way please be kind and respectful of my mission. At a minimum I think it deserves a modicum of respect, and honor but those are earned along the way aren't they? So with the benefit of the doubt in hand we embark on this journey. Thank you for reading my post and If I have left anything out I look forward to your feedback and input.
Sincerely,
gonetodocs